08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Departure
Walt crashed pretty quickly and I left him in the hotel room to go across the street to get some aspirin. I had a pretty good headache, probably from not hydrating enough during the day, and I wasn’t really looking forward to my flight home. I had a little more than an hour to kill before I was to meet my scheduled ride with the shuttle service to the airport and decided to wander down to the lobby. I met up with Bill somewhere along the line and he sat down with me in the lobby and we started discussing the events of the day.

It wasn’t long and we were joined in the lobby by Shawn Monday. We had seen him there when we arrived working on his laptop PC because, as he explained, this was the only area in the place that his wireless internet connection worked. He sat with us and just discussed different things about the seminar and his background with us. I was surprised to hear that he still participates in “cage matches” as well as teaching and running several businesses. He seems to have his hands in real estate as well as several merchant oriented websites. He is a bright guy and seemed to very much enjoy technology – which was pretty cool because it seems to be an interesting melding of ideas. The ‘ancient’ concepts of the martial arts combined with the ‘modern’ interests in today’s technology. Somehow, I just don’t feel like the only one anymore!!

The shuttle was late but after several angry phone calls to the dispatcher, it arrived and took me off to the airport. I had plenty of time there and wound up having to wait for 30 minutes to board my flight anyway. Going through the X-ray machines was sort of cool though as one of the technicians from across the way read my shirt and shouted out “Kenpo – Fist Law”, followed by a slight bow and the hand over the fist salute. I was a little stunned and at first just stood there smiling before I realized he was waiting for a response. Duh. I returned the same salute to him with a slight nod and he smiled, turned around, and went back to work. I couldn’t have made it over to him without a major hassle for both of us so I never did get to talk to him and see if he studied Kenpo. It was a fun experience and one that seemed to lend itself to the comradery that I had just been exposed to at the Confederation.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. I tried to sleep on the plane without success, had a layover in Texas, and arrived at RDU around 10:30am or so on Sunday. Maria and Duncan picked me up and I described as much as I could all the way to Bill’s house to retrieve my truck. It wasn’t until I sat in my truck and started driving home that I realized how tired I was. I had been awake for more than 28 hours at that point and was ready for some sleep. I got home and crashed.

It was a great trip and I am looking forward to doing it again next year. After describing the trip to Maria, she stated that she would be interested in going out there next year with me, perhaps making it a vacation and staying there for a week or so. It think that’s a great idea and I am looking forward to getting some details on the next event.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Dinner
Bill, Walt and I got cleaned up and headed down to the courtyard of the hotel. It was a beautiful evening in the low to mid 70’s with a clear blue sky and a light breeze. Chuck had arranged for a meal supplied by Kentucky Fried Chicken and he himself, along with his wife, served all that attended the dinner. We sat down to eat with a couple of gentlemen that had traveled from Maine as well as an ex-police officer and his son that had traveled from several hours away in California. It was great company and the food tasted great after a long day of working out. I don’t think I was the only one that was tired and sore. We didn’t linger long after dinner but headed up to the hotel room to chill.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Wrapping Up
The end of the day was marked by a few words by Chuck and Vic. They thanked everyone for coming and we all did the salute. What happened last was something that I hadn’t been told about but seems to be a tradition of sorts, at least for the confederation. It’s called “Passing the Pain”. We all formed a circle around the room with Chuck and Vic standing at the front of the room. By rank, to the right of Chuck were the black belts and to the left were the white belts. The dividers that had split the room into 3 separate areas for the seminars earlier were opened up and the ring of participants took up all of the space even though we were all standing shoulder to shoulder. The idea here is that Chuck initiates the “passing the pain” ritual by doing a right back-fist to the abdomen of the person standing to his right, Vic, and then Vic then does the same thing to the person standing to his right and on and on. The person delivering the blow ki-yaps upon execution and the person receiving the blow also ki-yaps up receipt. Starting with Chuck, this goes on to his right all the way around from the black belts to the white belts and then when it gets around to Chuck again he sends it back the other way. Basically there is a lot of yelling and hitting going on in an organized fashion, sort of like brutal human dominos. This is passing the pain.

Upon the completion of passing the pain, we all bowed and saluted and that concluded the 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation so far as the seminar portion.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Knife Fighting
This class was led by Mr. Glen Lyman and his family. One of the first things he did was to introduce his wife, also a black belt in Kenpo, and his daughter – who had hidden on her person no fewer than 15 knives that she proceeded to pile up on the floor at her feet. This was an interesting little display of how it was difficult to tell who exactly was carrying a knife…or 2… or 15. Glen himself was wearing what he called a “utility belt”. Made of ballistic nylon, this thing had probably somewhere between 10-20 more knives tucked away in various locations.

Glen started out by demonstrating how the knives were all blunt tipped with no sharp edges. These were practice items after all and there was no reason to use a live blade for what we were doing. He did some half and full speed drills with his wife before he had us all go up to the front of the table and obtain a knife to practice with for the class. The knife I obtained was along the lines of a fixed blade of approximately 4-6” in length.

We paired up and Glen started walking us through a drill. The idea behind the drill was to understand the cutting characteristics of a knife. As he asked in class: “How many of you have been in a serious knife fight?” When he didn’t get any takers, he added something like “…of course not, or you may not have made it to class today”. He went on to say that, of course, your fist line of defense if someone pulls a knife on you is to simply run away. The drills he was showing us were intended as familiarity drills and he wanted us to understand that up front.

The first part of the drill was simply going through a series of motions with the knife against your partner. For the most part, the moves were arcing and smooth. The targets were certain critical areas such as the inside of the elbow and the wrist, as well as cutting to some major muscles like the bicep. I don’t recall the exact series of movements but it was interesting to realize how much the wielder of the knife had to move to get the blade into cutting position, particularly when you had to change direction. I can’t imagine moving like we did in the drill in a real altercation but it was an interesting session just the same.

There were some questions regarding specific wounds from a knife in strategic areas. Although Glen wasn’t fully knowledgeable of the statistics that were being asked, John from Switzerland was on hand in the class and was able to field some questions. He has a website that he endorses called “No Live Blades” where very realistic training knives are available. One question was “How long does it take to bleed to death if a main artery is severed?” The answer was a little bit stunning. It would seem that it depends on the artery being cut, but John referred to the femoral artery in the leg and state that you could bleed out in a manner of seconds, well under a minute, if that artery were severed. In most cases, even if there was a doctor on hand expecting the wound, he would not be able to save you in that case. This was an eye opener. There were some other questions like this that came up and eventually Glen took the class back over and got us focused on the drills.

In all, it was an interesting class but I didn’t take a ton of knowledge away with me. I have no doubt that Glen is comfortable and effective with blades of all sorts but I don’t think we had nearly enough time to get into some of the things that I feel would be required to get a person prepared for an attacker wielding a knife. Having been on the other side of that situation, it can be a bit harrowing and I would definitely want to know more about using and defending with a knife or any other bladed weapon.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

BKF Kenpo
This was a great class. I wish it had been longer. Leading the class was Senior Grand Master Steve Muhammad (Sanders), Master Donnie Williams, and Professor Robert Temple. I was early to the class and was able to meet Mr. Muhammad and spoke with him briefly. He asked where I was from and what I thought of the Confederation this year. He also asked if I was familiar with the BKF and introduced me to Mr. Williams and Mr. Temple. Since I knew very little about the BKF, it was a little awkward at first as I didn’t know where to start. It didn’t’ take long though and others began filtering into the room and took the opportunity to meet the three I just mentioned. The room eventually filled up and we began the session.

We started with Donnie Williams running us through some basic drills – kicks, punches, step-throughs, and a few other things. He stated he was attempting to get an idea of the ‘cumulative level of knowledge in the room’, which I found to be an interesting statement given that the room was full – mostly with black belts from the IKCA. Never the less, we were promptly arranged according to rank and ability and then were told to have a seat. Mr. Muhammad was given a chair and read from some prepared notes.

The notes were basically some thoughts that he had put to paper regarding how he equated the movements of fighting to mathematics. It was interesting to listen to him speak. I may be off a bit in my assessment, but it appeared to me that he was holding back, like he didn’t want to overwhelm anyone with his knowledge and was metering it out slowly. I also quickly understood that this man was full of knowledge and wanted desperately to share it.

It didn’t take long to realize that the BKF, or at least this trio, was a very regimented group. Mr. Muhammad would be reading some notes and would occasionally pause and ask if we understood what he was saying. The first couple of times, there were several head bobs and murmurs to the affirmative but about the third time there was a question, Donnie Williams broke in and stated that we should loudly verbalize our responses with clear distinction. After that, the room responded largely with a loud “Yes, Sir!” when a question was asked. The one exception was a black belt that was loudly responding with “Yes, Grand Master”. Later in the class, he did a little spiel about respect, stating that Steve Muhammad was a founding Grand Master of a system and was due a distinction between being labeled as “Sir” and “Grand Master”. I think it was more of a method of showboating for his own purposes, but the gentlemen leading the class didn’t say anything one way or the other when he concluded.

Anyway, after Mr. Muhammad concluded his oral statements, he showed the class some techniques and drills. He demonstrated on Mr. Temple who was wearing some sort of padded body armor that seemed to only marginally stop the force of Muhammad’s blows. It was interesting to see how Muhammad taught. He has a gift of movement that he himself cannot explain. He does things with instinctive movements and acknowledges this. However, these are movements that can be taught and learned.

Muhammad related a story of when he was first learning with Chuck Sullivan. Chuck was asking different students to come up and demonstrate what they had learned and show any new skill that they had learned in the class. When Steve Muhammad’s (Sanders) turn was came up, he went up and stood with Chuck. Since he was new, Chuck was sort of taking him through a few steps in front of the class and decided to do some sparring techniques. This is where Muhammad shined. He had an ability to take the raw movements of a technique and turn them into something that worked for him, and Chuck Sullivan encouraged this. According to Steve, Chuck asked him to demonstrate a particular maneuver and Steve executed the maneuver but adjusted for range and closed the gap with another movement that wasn’t part of the technique. This was sort of the funny part of the story as Steve stated that he hadn’t really thought about doing it, he just moved. Chuck recognized this for what it was and, with gratitude from Steve, he didn’t ask him to repeat the move even though the rest of class at the time was begging him to do it again! The point that he wrapped up with after this story and demonstration was that there is no one system that is perfect for anyone. Every system needs to be custom tailored to the person learning it and the student and the art will grow together. This is what he loved about Kenpo and it is why he holds Chuck Sullivan in such high regard.

It was about this time that the official class time was over. Steve Muhammad was fine to just continue on and anyone that wanted to continue with him was welcome to stay – but Donnie William reminded him that the room was needed for the next class. Muhammad seemed a bit put out by this and actually continued on for several minutes longer before finally wrapping up the session. I have a much greater respect for Steve Muhammad now that I have had a chance to meet him and understand his background a little bit. It was interesting to me that, again, Steve Muhammad is not a ‘large’ man per se, but he was packing serious power into Mr. Temple’s pads – and he moved like a cat; very graceful and with purpose. Like I said in the beginning, I wish the class had been longer.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Kenpo Trapping
Vic LeRoux led this class and unfortunately, I was unable to participate much because of the time I spent talking with Mr. Boyd. It was still interesting to watch for the 10 minutes or so that I did see the class. It happened to be Brenda King that Vic was demonstrating with in the middle of the crowd, although I didn’t know this until later when Bill introduced me to her.

From what I was able to see, there seemed to be a good mix of what I have seen in Kung Fu as well as the Philippine arts, such as Arnis, represented in some of the techniques. Trapping has always been interesting to me because it sort of combines an active defense with sort of passive hands. Often times, the trapping is simply a form of parry that guides or leads the attacker to a certain position so that you can do whatever it is you are attempting. It takes options away from the other guy while increasing your options in a fight.

Watching Vic lead the class with some of the exercises, I couldn’t help but think of the hubud exercise we did with John that very morning. I am beginning to see where these drills really make a difference and round out your skills. I look forward to learning more about trapping as I really didn’t give it a fair shot this time around.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Story time with Mr. Boyd
As the Keyslinger class was emptying out of the room, I was drawn into some light conversation with an older gentleman who was encouraging me to “stick with Kenpo”. He had noticed that I was the only white belt in the class and seemed to want to impart any knowledge and advice to me that I was willing to take. After a couple of minutes, we formally introduced ourselves and I learned that his name was Chuck Boyd, and he seemed to be in a very chatty mood.

He started out recalling when he was of ‘lower rank’. He clearly remembers the first colored belts – and not very fondly. He was due for promotion (I think he said to brown belt) and was at the dojo, present with his peers, with Ed Parker handing out the promotions. He clearly recalls being called forward and Mr. Parker awarded him a blue belt. This was the first time that the colored belts had ever been introduced at the dojo and Mr. Boyd remembers being very upset about it. He recounted the story with humor, but you could tell that he still isn’t happy about getting that blue belt! He remembers accepting the belt from Mr. Parker reluctantly and stalking back to his seat, flushed with embarrassment and anger. He stated that within just a couple of months that he had attained his desired belt level – which he feels he had rightly earned previously. He laughed through the whole story and in the end he repeated that I should stick with it, even through those colorful belts.

He then started talking about the class we were just in, the Keyslinger. He said that Chuck didn’t tell us the ‘rest of the story’ regarding the event in question and that he had left out a ‘few details’. Apparently, the two accompanying thugs stated to the police that the lead guy had been shot, as they couldn’t imagine what else could do the damage that had destroyed the man’s face. Mr. Boyd let that sink in for a second and then went on to describe the wound. The keys hit the thug flush along the cheekbone with a direct hit, so he absorbed the full impact of the blow. The keys literally ‘tore off his face’ and shattered his jaw, teeth and all. The skin and muscle damage to that area was extensive, which is what eventually led to the ominous sounds coming from the guy. All in all it was a pretty gruesome picture and I could see why Chuck Sullivan left out some of those details.

After a few more minutes of idle chatter about the keyslinger, Mr. Boyd started reminiscing again about ‘the old days’. He began describing Ed Parker a little bit and how he could literally make anything work. There were some techniques that Ed would come up with that only he could do because of their complexity. He described Ed Parker as 270 lbs. of Hawaiian muscle that could make a body do whatever he wanted it to. However, there were plenty of people that couldn’t duplicate his moves and that is where Chuck Sullivan came in. Chuck would consider the technique or maneuver and then strip out everything that wasn’t essential. That is how the system we have now in the IKCA was born.

Mr. Boyd had some humorous stories about some of the stuff that Ed Parker would come up with. It was during one of these stories that Chuck Sullivan wandered near by and recognized the tale. He joined us and clarified a few points of the story that I don’t think even Mr. Boyd knew about. There was a particular technique which involved a strike to the upper thigh that was intended to double the guy over. This was one of those cases in which Ed Parker seemed to be the only one that could make the person double over. Chuck had analyzed this technique and determined that the best move was to strike the person in the groin and then move on with the technique. To demonstrate this theory, he had everyone in the dojo line up one day and one at a time Chuck demonstrated the move the way Mr. Parker felt it should be done. “Nineteen out of nineteen times the student took the hit and stayed up”, which was out of position for the maneuver. “That stubborn Hawaiian still wouldn’t give in”. Chuck said that he and Ed argued about this from the studio all the way to Pasadena, which was apparently a long drive. By the time they arrived at their destination, they were both apparently pretty worked up and practically jumped out of the car to ‘demonstrate’ on each other in the driveway! Chuck said that after several more minutes of arguing about this point in the driveway, he won the only argument he had ever won against Ed Parker – sort of. At one point Ed said “Chuck, your right. I’ll change it.” Chuck had a very proud look on his face as he conveyed this and then said: “And you know what? He never did. It was the only time I ever won an argument with the guy and he still didn’t change it in the end!” We all laughed and Chuck dismissed himself from the group.

Mr. Boyd, however, stuck around and continued to tell some stories of days gone by. He recounted time in the dojo when they had ‘special guests’ stop buy to see Ed Parker or Chuck Sullivan. One of the memories he hold fondly was meeting Chuck Norris. He stated that Chuck Norris was a rigid fighter in those days and had a background in the Korean Arts, specifically Tang Soo Do. This being more of a ‘distance’ type of fighting with long kicks and punches, he was having some trouble with guys getting on the inside and ‘causing trouble’. He knew of Ed Parker’s American Kenpo and also knew that Chuck Sullivan was training with Steve Mohammad (then known as Steve Sanders). He apparently stopped by one day and began some training with Chuck Sullivan and some of the other guys in the dojo. “If there was one thing about Chuck Norris, it was his spirit; he just wouldn’t stop until he had it down.” This is how Mr. Boyd first recalled Chuck Norris. He then went on to say: “… but he never did get Kenpo hands… he just couldn’t get it.” Mr. Byrd went on to describe how Chuck Norris was teaching students in his garage at that time, like many people were. He admitted that even today, he (Boyd) teaches students in his own garage.

“I also remember a time when this cocky little Asian guy came strolling into the dojo with his sunglasses on. Do you know who I’m talking about? I’m talking about Bruce Lee.” Mr. Boyd seemed to recollect this memory with a mix of contempt and admiration, which seemed to indicate some inward turmoil somewhere. “It was 1967 and I was training right there on the floor when he walked right in that front door like he owned the place.” Bruce apparently came by to see Ed Parker, but in Ed’s absence, started a conversation with Chuck Sullivan who was working with Steve Sanders at that time. Apparently Bruce was invited to train with them a little bit and donned some sparring equipment. At this point, the few of us that were listening to this story were pretty tightly focused and Mr. Boyd knew it. He was pausing like he was purposely withholding information from us to tease us. Someone finally asked if Bruce and Steve fought. Mr. Boyd smiled and nodded, saying: “Steve mopped the floor with that guy. It was no contest.” I have to admit, this was a stunner for me, and apparently everyone else there too. But Mr. Boyd smiled confidently and went on to say that we probably wouldn’t hear about that story anywhere else.

Mr. Boyd finished his story telling with an episode that happened outside of a restaurant. Mr. Boyd and his wife were in company with Chuck Sullivan and his wife. “We used to swap wives, you know, just to go into the restaurants. Chuck would walk in with a buxom mama on his arm, and I would walk in with a gorgeous blonde.” We all laughed at this but he went on to say that on one particular day, he and Chuck were walking out of a restaurant and heading toward the parking lot to meet up with the wives. On the way out, an inebriated man stumbled into Chuck Sullivan and immediately began getting boisterous with him, claiming that Chuck had stepped on his boots and scuffed them up. Apparently the guy tried hard to get Chuck to fight him. “Here I was, trying pry myself toward the guy, you know ‘protecting’ Mr. Sullivan, like he needed it or something. ‘Let me go, Chuck, I’ll take care of this guy for you’.” But Chuck Sullivan took a different approach altogether. He talked calmly to the guy and apologized for stepping on his boots. He took responsibility for something that he didn’t even do just to placate the guy. Eventually the guy walked away back into the bar for another drink or something. Mr. Boyd asked Chuck why he didn’t take him out to the parking lot and clean his clock! Chuck stated simply that the guy “obviously had too much to drink” and that Chuck “had nothing to prove or to gain by beating the guy senseless. Besides, now he can go on and enjoy the rest of his evening.” This made a huge impression on Mr. Boyd and to this day he cites this as an example of the high standards that Chuck Sullivan sets in and out of the dojo. It is precisely for this reason that Mr. Boyd has stuck beside Chuck Sullivan and Vick LeRoux and continues to learn from them both. “High moral character” is how he describes them. Mr. Boyd wrapped up our little story telling event and we all moved on to our next class, even though we missed most of it by this time. For me it was worth it though. It is always good to get a sense about the people you are entrusting and learning from. Mr. Boyd is a black belt, 7th dan and has nothing but high praise for what Chuck and Vic have done with the IKCA. I hope to have the opportunity to talk with him again someday.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

The Keyslinger
I had been looking forward to this class because Bill had shown me his Keyslinger and described what it was for. He said that Chuck would be doing some training at the seminar and a keyslinger would be included to everyone that partook in the class. I walked in the door and was surprised that the number attending class wasn’t larger than it was – if for no reason other than it was one of two classes that were led by Chuck Sullivan at this particular conference. It turned out to be just the right number of people in the room though as we started swinging these things around.

The Keyslinger is an invention of Chuck Sullivan’s that is described by him as “a leather strap and a key-ring”. The strap itself is approximately 12-14” long with a loop in one end big enough for a couple of fingers. The other end has a D-ring and a standard 1-1/2” split-ring key-ring running through it. That’s it. The idea is that you put your pinky and ring finger through the loop on the one end and wrap it around your hand. If attacked by an assailant, you can swing your attached keys at him much like a flail and inflict enough harm to escape. For training purposes, Chuck had brought in a small bail of cardboard that he split up and handed out for us to practice on.

We practiced with just an empty key-ring on the end of the Keyslinger – no keys. We partnered up and one person would hold the cardboard out about head-high and the other would strike it. It was amazing to see what this little device was capable of! The class room sounded like a firing range as we all took turns striking at the cardboard. Our particular piece of cardboard was double laminated corrugated fiber board – basically some tough stuff as cardboard goes. The empty key-ring sailed right through the stuff – and that was before we had instruction on how to swing it!

Chuck instructed us to face the theoretical opponent head on with the Keyslinger hanging relaxed in our hands. Using a short tight motion, he instructed us to bring the Keyslinger up directly toward the target and torque through the strike by bending the wrist slightly. He also stated that twisting at the waist would also increase the speed in which the keys were flying. The effect was simple and amazing. Shredded cardboard everywhere.

There were several questions asked about why he hadn’t put the device on the website for sale. He stated emphatically that he didn’t want these out in the general public, and he didn’t want anyone using one that hadn’t been properly trained in how to use it. When he was asked if he ever had to use it himself, he stated that he had not, but that a student had recounted an episode in which the keyslinger helped him to stop a 3 on 1 confrontation almost immediately. The student in question worked security at one of the movie sets in town. He “foolishly left the studio wearing his ‘security’ jacket” and was met by some gang-type thugs outside of the gate. Chuck stopped the story at this point and stated how it was smart to avoid trouble whenever possible and that the individual in question should have just taken off the jacket and left the lot as a civilian – not a security guard. His story continued with his description of the lead thug flanked on either side with a couple others. As he approached the security guard with ill intent in mind, the lead thug caught the full force of a set of keys at the end of a Keyslinger right square against the jaw along the side of his face. The effect was immediate. The thug dropped like a wet rag and was “making noises human beings were never intended to make”. The security guard saw that the other two thugs were momentarily stunned at seeing their buddy in a pile on the ground and took the opportunity to run away. Again, Chuck stopped his story at this point to state that the fight is over when you are no longer in danger, at which point “get the hell out of there” and don’t stick around to see what happens. Depending on who sees what, and how that information is interpreted, you may be seen as the aggressor and have to answer some very unfriendly questions. Just do what needs to be done and get out of there pronto. He finished the story by saying that the security guard in question feels that the other two thugs didn’t move in on him because they may have thought he shot the lead thug. He went down as if he had been shot, and there was plenty of blood. Chuck stated that this was a weapon and should be treated as such.

The class wrapped up a little bit early and I think everyone there was still a little amazed at how well this device works. Chuck stuck around and answered questions and told some stories but most left the room and when on their way.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Lunch and Events
I had a banana and something to drink at lunch time as the only real food offering was burgers and hot dogs – neither of which are generally part of my regular diet. During the lunch break there was a competition judged by the black belts called the ‘Triathlon”. The first of the three events consisted of the competitor standing with his back to the volunteer ‘attackers’, among which included Walt from my TKI school, and the competitor would utilize different techniques for escape. The second was the semi circle drill which utilized the same ‘attackers’. The final event consisted of dummy drills, where the competitor beat the snot out of a dummy. Each competitor was judged and his score was tallied. At the end of the competition, each judge walked up to Chuck Sullivan with a single response to indicate the winner and Chuck quickly tallied these into a final 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finisher.

It was interesting to watch the competitors. There was a healthy mix of contestants ranging from the BKF, to one gentleman trained solely with the video series, to those who were part of an organized IKCA school. All of the moves were basically the same with just subtle differences. Without even knowing what to judge upon, the competitor that I had mentally flagged as the winner did indeed take first place. He was a student of the BKF and was later congratulated by Grandmaster Steve Mohammad in the BKF seminar class that I attended. His moves seemed the most controlled and his strikes were on target. He had a calm demeanor before and after each event but was all business during the actual drills and I wasn’t surprised at all that he won.

There is one other person I recall vividly who competed in this group. Some had taken to calling him the “Wildman” by the time we had arrived at the seminar. He had been there all week and was working with several different instructors and had spent a lot of time with Paul Metz. I believe his name was Jamie and he was from Alaska. What was so interesting about his guy was unique character and indomitable spirit. When he arrived, he was solely the product of the video learning series and hadn’t spent any time with any other Kenpoists prior to this trip – let alone an instructor. To look at him, the first thought that popped into my mind was “skater”; he had long hair kept in a pony tail that easily went the length of his back. He was very friendly and tried everything. It was humorous because he would be so excited to partake in something that he would just react instead of listening or thinking clearly. During the semi-circle drill, he had to be told repeatedly not to react when the ‘attackers’ were measuring for distance. He just kept jumping into defense mode and moved into his techniques. Literally on the fifth attempt to get through to him, Paul finally got the point across that he wasn’t supposed to move yet. In a little side-bar discussion with Paul Metz and some of the other guys that had spent time with him, they commented on how much he had calmed down during the week compared to when he had first arrived! If nothing else he was fun to watch and definitely got his money’s worth out of the seminar. It will be interesting to see what he is like next year if he attends.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Hypnosis in the Martial Arts
I took this class more out of curiosity than anything. It was lead by a gentleman named Bob Choat, who has grown up with the martial arts and has also spent some time in the service, though I don’t know what capacity. The thrust of this class was how to utilize hypnosis for benefit in Kenpo and the martial arts.

He started by handing out a sheet with some information on it. This may have actually been the highpoint in the class. The information was used with permission by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and was entitled Effects of Hormonal Induced Heart Rate Increase. The key to this chart was that these heart rates are actually induced by hormone levels, and not activity levels such as exercise. The information contained is summarized as follows:

• 115 to 145 beats per minute (bpm): Optimal survival and combat performance level for:
  - Complex motor skills
  - Visual reaction time
  - Cognitive reaction time
  - Note: at 115 bpm, fine motor skills deteriorate. At 145 bpm, complex motor skills deteriorate.
• 175 bpm - Things start to get bad:
  - Cognitive processing deteriorates
  - Loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision)
  - Loss of depth perception
  - Loss of near vision
  - Auditory exclusion (tunnel hearing)
• Above 175 bpm
  - Irrational fighting or fleeing
  - Freezing
  - Submissive behavior
  - Vasoconstriction (= reduced bleeding from wounds)
  - Voiding of bladder and bowels
  - Gross motor skills at highest performance level (running, charging, etc.)

Mr. Choat states that one can train one’s self to better maintain a level of performance by mentally preparing yourself in advance using several techniques, including hypnosis. His definition of hypnosis was a little different than I would have defined it myself. He started his description by asking if we had ever come out of a movie theater after being fully engrossed in a movie and forgot where we parked the car. He then asked if we had ever been going down a familiar stretch of road, perhaps coming home from work after a long day, and suddenly become aware that you are already home – not recalling the details of your drive. There were a couple of other questions along this same line but his point was that, by his definition, we were in a hypnotic state during these times.

He asked if anyone in the class had heard or used NLP before. I and one other person acknowledged that we had and he went right on without really discussing it. NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming and was made popular several years ago by Tony Robbins (famous self-help guru). Since that time, there are psychologists and others that have taken the early practices far beyond its early stages and it has sort of become its own science. It is more or less a system of determining how your physical, visual, and emotional well being is triggered by any number of stimuli that we may encounter in any given day. The idea behind the usefulness of NLP is that if you can consciously control these triggers, you can control your state of mind at any given time and thus improve performance, mood, concentration, etc. To listen to Mr. Choat describe it, he would have you believe that it is a form of hypnosis.

He had us all lay down on the floor and did his hypnosis thing. In a nutshell, it was really just focused visualization from a very relaxed state of mind. Hypnosis? Not sure about that. Useful? Not sure about that either. From the little that I have dabbled with NLP, I personally didn’t see any correlation, but perhaps that’s why I’m skeptical. He was trying to get us to focus on our ‘well being’ and had us visualize a wash of relaxation starting with our feet and traveling up our bodies to our head. I think the idea was simply to begin understanding that we could consciously control our own states but anyone who has spent any time in meditation could tell you that. I’ll bet if you asked Mr. Choat, he would tell you that meditation was a form of hypnosis.

There was one very interesting thing that came from this class. He had us partner up and do an emotional test where we visualized something negative first, then something positive. This was toward the end of the class and I thought he was pretty full of it by this time but went ahead on with the exercise. After several seconds of visualizing something that was ‘bad’ or ‘hurtful’ or ‘hateful’ to us, we would raise our left arm parallel to the floor and our partner would apply downward pressure on our arms in an attempt to ‘measure’ how much resistance you could withstand. After this was done, he had us visualize something powerfully good to us for several seconds and then repeated the arm thing. To my great surprise, I was able to hold my arm straight and provide more resistance than the first time around. Mr. Choat described this as a function of the subconscious. He states that the amazing thing about the subconscious mind is that it only allows positive memories, emotions, etc. to come through. He went on to describe how positive emotion can literally strengthen the body and the mind, and conversely, negative emotions can do the opposite. To tie things together, he stated that it is for this reason that it fighters who become angry with their opponents will lessen their abilities while in this negative state. True or false, this was a fun experiment and it did leave an impression.

One other small memory comes to mind from this class. Paul Metz was in attendance in the beginning of the class, curiously quiet with a skeptical air about him. He stayed for a whole 10 minutes or so before he quietly got up and left without interruption. Given how boisterous and outspoken he can be, I found that his silence spoke just as loudly in his opinions of what he had heard as had he spoken up and stated his opinion verbally.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Joint Locks and Kenpo
This class was lead by Doug Meeks, a high ranking black belt in the IKCA. He went through a series of moves that comprised a single drill. All of the moves were joint locks or arm bar maneuvers that started with a guard against a left punch. It was interesting that he started the class by stating that the joint lock maneuvers weren’t necessarily something you would generally use in a street fight or personal protection, but could be effectively used should the opportunity arise.

I started out with an ex-cop with an orange belt. He had some familiarity with some of the moves we were doing and had little difficulty making sense of the drill. It was interesting going through the motions with him because he had actually used some of these moves in his role as a police officer. It was also interesting because he was at least a whole head taller than me and that proved to be interesting when applying some of the joint locks on him.

After several minutes, a couple of guys that were next to us in the class asked if we wanted to change partners for a different perspective. I wound up with a 2nd degree black belt who had me by about 50 lbs. or so. I’m glad we did change partners because it was completely different applying these techniques on this guy than it was the ex-cop. For one, he wasn’t nearly as flexible and tapped very quickly when I was going through the steps. For another, he didn’t seem to have such a good grasp of the techniques so I actually provided him with a challenge as well. By the end of the class, I felt that I had a good glimpse at how joint locks could be utilized in Kenpo.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Beginner’s Jujitsu - Grappling
I took this class for a couple reasons but largely because I have always been curious about grappling & ground fighting. He was my chance for a taste of it flavored with Kenpo and I took advantage of it. The class was led by Shawn Monday and was from 9:00 to 11:00 am. I must say that I have a whole new appreciation for ground fighting than I did before taking this class. Shawn is as comfortable on the ground in just about any position as he is standing vertical on his feet. He was amazing to watch and made everything look very easy.

The biggest thing he stressed before we even got started is that it can be very easy to hurt or get hurt on the ground. With your body horizontal and being used as a lever in several of these moves, it is easy to break things (bones) or hyperextend an arm or leg. With this in mind, we partnered up and started learning some of the basics. Since we didn’t have time to get into a full retinue of moves, we basically started on the ground in a ‘weak position’ and took turns with our partners getting into and out of trouble. The fist maneuver had one partner on his back on the ground, and the other was astride him, feet tucked under his legs, right arm reaching under his neck and grabbing hold of his own gi sleeve on the other side, effectively locking the head in place. The free left arm of the man on top was used to pin down the right arm of the guy on the bottom. The first part of this exercise was to show the control of being on top in this position. The second part was how to get out of it if you find yourself in this sort of weak position. To get out, you either tie up or buckle the left arm of the guy on top, grab and pull his gi with the same arm while pushing up with your feet. This effectively rolls you over to become the person in the top position putting the other guy in trouble.

This was fun to practice and Shawn encouraged us to experiment and see if there was any way to stop the maneuver from taking place in the strong position. I managed to keep my partner pinned down by not allowing him the ability to get his feet under him. Basically, I was wrapping up his legs and straightening them out with my own, effectively taking away his leverage. Shawn spotted this from across the room and came over to us to investigate. He said that the maneuver I was doing was known as ‘tripodding’ and that it was a favorite among wrestlers. The way to thwart my maneuver was for the man on the bottom to arch his back and then push off quickly. By doing so, it takes away the ability of the man on top to ‘tripod’, effectively rendering the technique useless. My partner did as he was instructed and sure enough, I was spun over and was on my back in a flash. I had a good 30-40 lbs. on the guy I was partnered with and was amazed to see how easily I was maneuvered by applying the correct leverage at the right spot. Very cool.

The next maneuver was interesting as it incorporated some pressure points in the inner leg between the muscles. Shawn used Eli to demonstrate on first. Eli was on his back and Shawn was between his legs facing him. Eli’s legs were wrapped around Shawn at the waist, giving him some good leverage to squeeze on the kidneys and floating ribs. Shawn simply reached for the knot on Eli’s gi and first torqued his thumbs into Eli’s abdomen. Eli winced a little bit but didn’t let go, clearly thinking he could take this discomfort. But Shawn was only using the knot on the belt as a measuring point and simply lowered the points of his elbows into the muscle bands near the inside of Eli’s legs. The response was immediate as Eli howled in pain, legs flinging opened wide and his hands tapping like crazy! It happened so fast, it was like Shawn hit some sort of magic button or something! I think Eli was just as amazed at the sudden change in things but was a good sport as Shawn had released the pressure as soon as he got the reaction he was looking for. Shawn explained that the points of the elbow were in effect rolling one part of the muscle mass in the leg under another muscle – which happens to reside right over a major pressure point. He lectured again about safety and then we broke off with our partners again to practice.

The next move was a spider trap. Again, this involved getting yourself out of a weak position, in this case you are on your back and your opponent is attacking from on top of you. This maneuver was freakishly simple and very effective, leaving you several choices as to which way to go. It does work best though if your opponent is wearing a gi or at least clothes as you need to grab hold of him to make this effective. The weak position has a guy on his back with the man in the strong position between his legs raining down punches against your face. You grab a hand full of gi on the right and left side of the lapels while bring the feet up and resting them against the pelvis of the attacker. It was amazing how well you could control the movements of the attacker from this position! If he throws a left punch, push your hand that is hold the gi on his left side away while pushing away on the opposite foot, effectively torquing his body and taking away any power or range he may have. If the opponent has long arms or is overpowering you, just push off with both feet and he will slide right out of the way and become the one in the weak position for an ensuing leg maneuver or kick. Again, I was struck by the simplicity of a few basic items used together for a greater effect.

We did several other things in this class, including some other holds like the scarf lock, figure four lock (in several places) and some basic arm bars. One of the things that Shawn keyed in on was that many of these moves were the same moves, just used in different positions. He used the figure four lock as an example and showed how it could be used against the ankle, arm, wrist, and shoulder. I would write a longer description but I don’t know if I could do justice with a verbal explanation of what he did. I think I took several things away from this class that I wasn’t really expecting to:

• Ground fighting is something you hope you don’t have to do but it sure does fill out your skills being able to maneuver yourself out of a tight spot on the ground.
• Leverage beats muscle every time it is applied correctly. Shawn had some very large men afraid to be his test dummy. The pain they felt was real and Shawn used very little effort to inflict it – even when he was ‘out of position’ and ‘hopelessly tied up’.
• I have a whole new respect for the Gracie crew and their methods of grappling.
• Grappling was surprisingly fun to do. Using just a few basic maneuvers can get you out of a lot of difficult positions.

I hope to see Shawn Monday again someday. He is an interesting guy and doesn’t come off as someone that has the skill that he does. He mentioned casually that he still competes on occasion and when I later pressed him on it, he stated that does an occasional ‘cage match’.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

IKCA Hour
After a quick breakfast in the Captains Galley with the guys from Maine, we got dressed and went up to the main room in the upstairs of the hotel. The first hour was for the IKCA members only and was meant as a ‘brush up’ for those currently studying the system. Before we got started with the days events, there was a moment of silence for a number of students who had recently passed away. Following this was a brief ceremony where Chuck and Vic awarded black belts to several members who had earned them. After the formalities were commenced with, we were all broken into groups by rank. There was a relatively small group of white and orange belts and we were led by Shawn Monday and Jerry Brooksher.

Shawn and Jerry led us through the basics, starting with the neutral bow, forward bow, reverse bow and the cat stance. The only ones I had experience with prior to this seminar was the neutral bow and cat stance so I was learning new things right off the bat. After the stances, we did the lunge punch, in which Shawn complemented me on my form & posture. I was surprised to see the differences in my group when Shawn called for a switch. About half of them just jumped up and came down in the opposite foot position, much like I do in TKD. I think I was the only one doing it the way I was taught by Bill, which I feel makes the most sense. Anyway, after this Shawn asked to see some ball kicks. He started at the other end of the line and after correcting the third person in a row, he called for attention and demonstrated the correct way to do it. We all kicked again and he spotted me and complimented me on my form again. Very cool! He had us stop in mid kick (like Bill has had us do so many times in class) and I think I was the only one that didn’t fall off balance, which prompted a brief but humorous description and exhibition about ‘dead legging’ from Shawn and Jerry. Next was the thrust kick, followed by the roundhouse kick and the back kick. Although I didn’t receive any more attention from Shawn regarding form or posture, I was already appreciating the attention to detail that Bill gives to his students. It certainly made me feel more confident within my own group, even as a white belt.

After the basic stances and kicks, we did some blocking. It was a brief foray into blocking but he covered the basics and moved right into techniques. The first one we did, Thunder and Lightning, happened to be the only one I had any experience with as Bill had just shown it to me the week prior to the trip! We practiced it for a few minutes and then moved on to the next one, Escaping Ram. Although I seemed to be the only one that didn’t know the technique, I picked it up quick enough with an explanation from Jerry as Shawn was drilling the rest of the group. After practicing a few more times, we did Thrusting Release, in which Shawn called me forward to demonstrate on. After knocking me around a bit, he showed me how to do the technique and I fell back in line and practiced with everyone else. We were just beginning to start with Returning Serpent when Chuck Sullivan called us all back in line and eventually dismissed us to start the day. It was very cool working with Shawn and Jerry and I learned a bunch in the first few minutes of the day.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

Friday Night Workout
When we arrived, there were only a couple of other people in the room. We stretched out a little bit and then Walt and I started doing the hubud drill that Larry Lauer had taught us just a month before. One of the guys there recognized the drill and approached us. His name was John and he had traveled from Sweden to take part in the event. He was a Kenpo black belt and was intimately familiar with the drill. He and Walt started with the drill again and we immediately saw some differences. As opposed to a hard check, he used more of a parry. He also used rhythm and feel as much or more so than sight to track the movements through the drill. He was very good at it and it wasn’t long before he was showing us “checking” in the drill. He would take advantage of a weak parry or block and ‘check’ Walt on the top of the head, side of the face, or in the abdomen. Walt was quick to adapt but about that time John would change the direction of the drill. It was fun to watch and incredible to see how sensitive he was at reading body movement and watching how quickly he would adapt to changes with just subtle movements – all while staying completely relaxed and completely without tension. He mentioned to us that this was one of 15 speed drills that he used with regularity and that it had multiple extensions to the drill that could be used and adapted for various things.

It wasn’t long after Walt and John finished up the hubud drill that the people in the room started doing some line drills. I think it was Paul Metz that basically started organizing the line and eventually it grew to two long lines. They were starting with the lower techniques and going right up through the list. It was interesting to see the subtle differences in style and technique as they all went through the lines. I stayed out and watched. At that time, I had only been shown 1 technique and was anything but comfortable with it, let alone any of these other techniques they were doing. On top of that, the higher ranking black belts were encouraging the use of extensions on top of the techniques and I just felt completely overwhelmed. Bill was cautious as he approached and asked if I was enjoying myself. I stated that I was and fell back in line. Walt came over a couple of times and encouraged me to join in, saying that if I didn’t know a technique, they would teach me. I appreciated what he was doing very much but I just didn’t feel comfortable jumping in like that and stayed on the sidelines. As it was, Walt retired early that night around 7:30 or so and I left shortly after. Bill stayed until about 9:30 or so before he turned in for the night.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

The Seaport Marina Hotel
Walt had done some research online and stated that some of the photos and descriptions suggested the hotel was right on the beach. I think he was looking forward to some R&R on the beach on Friday night before things got started on Saturday morning, and to be honest that sounded pretty good to me too. Nothing doing. We check in at the front desk and notice there is a sign stating there would be a get together in one of the meeting rooms that night at 8:00pm. Fine. We get our stuff in our rooms and settle in for a while before we come up and meet everyone. No problem.

The hotel looked like it was built in the 60’s or early 70’s and was in need of some upkeep. The rooms were basically clean though and the bed relatively comfortable. The fluorescent light in my bathroom just flickered and wouldn’t come on so I used the heat lamp in the ceiling to see by. It was a bit of a struggle to get the water on in the bathroom as the pull-type handle just didn’t want to be pulled out! I actually had to lean into it with some body weight to get the faucet to come on. But for these minor inconveniences, there was a large 36x60 tiled shower and it worked great. As it turned out, I spent an incredibly short amount of time in that room anyway.

After getting settled into our rooms, we met down in the lobby briefly and decided to go for a walk down by the marina. There was a 4-lane road between the hotel property and the marina so it was a quick walk across the street to get over there. We had just gotten to the marina walkway when Bill received a call on his phone from Vic LeRoux regarding the get together at the hotel later that night. What we perceived as an informal get together was suddenly a workout session from 6:00 to 10:00pm. Bill wanted to be up there a few minutes early, of course, so we determined we would be ready to go by 5:45pm.

This news upped our time schedule quite a bit and we decided we had better get something to eat so it had a little time to settle before we go work out. There were several restaurants in the immediate area around the hotel and we ultimately decided on the California Pizza Kitchen as the place to go. We all had our own little pizza’s and enjoyed a good meal together before heading back up to the hotel for the few minutes we had remaining.

08.06.05 - 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation

These are general notes of my trip to Long Beach, California to attend the 2nd Annual West Coast Kenpo Confederation which took place at the Sea Port Marina Hotel on August 6, 2005.

Getting to California
I drove my S10 over to Bill's place and parked it in the parking lot. Walt did the same thing and Phyl gave us all a ride to RDU. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:04am and Bill wanted to be there plenty early to circumvent any problems that may arise. Our plane took off on-time from RDU to Dallas/Fort Worth where we had a brief layover. We went and had something to eat and came back to our gate thinking we had plenty of time, only to discover that the plane had been boarding for 15 minutes already and we were the last ones left to board! After hustling on and getting seated, the plane took off a few minutes late but we arrived on-time at LAX just the same.

We had discussed prior to departing for the trip whether or not to take advantage of a shuttle service to get to the hotel from the airport or to just rent a car. Walt and I were of the same mind and preferred to rent a car, looking for some extra freedom should time allow. We jumped on a Hertz bus that took us from LAX to their rental car facility and we went into the main office. We must have had a stunned look on our face because a man at a customer service desk simply said “aaaaaaalllll the way back” and pointed in the direction of a large mass of people. Without exaggerating there were probably 100-150 people in line to rent a car. I don’t think we even broke stride again as we walked straight out the door and caught a shuttle back to the airport, where we jumped on the “Super Shuttle” that took us to Long Beach.

The shuttle ride itself was interesting. It was a van with 2 bench seats and a single front seat for passengers. The van was filled to capacity with 6 regular sized people and one very overweight woman who had to be at least 400 lbs. This large woman had difficulties at first getting into the van as the seat available to her was the front seat. Basically, she couldn’t fit into the door. After several minutes of trying and almost falling out, we adjusted our seating so that she could sit in the back. Finally, we were on our way through the airport, onto the freeway, and heading for Long Beach – where every single passenger on the bus was let off before we were. But we eventually made it.